To press forward into her future, Alessia Cara reinvented her past. On the Grammy-winning singer’s new album Love Or Lack Thereof, out now, she assembles jazz and soul remakes of love and heartbreak songs from throughout her catalog, pulling material from her albums Know-It-All (2015), The Pains of Growing (2018), In The Meantime (2021), and Love & Hyperbole (2025) as well as her hit Zedd collaboration “Stay.”
Love Or Lack Thereof matches Cara with a team of accomplished jazz musicians. She recorded with the band live at Noble Street Studios in Toronto, and the performances were captured for a series of in-studio videos accompanying the new album. The tracklist is graced by guest vocals from two fellow Grammy winners: Nelly Furtado features on the remake of 2021 track “Shapeshifter,” while Norah Jones duets with Cara on a version of “I’m In Trouble,” the album’s new original song.
“I wanted to do something special for 1 year of L&H and 10 years of music,” Cara explained in an Instagram post announcing the new album. “Pulled this together in just over 3 days thanks to a super talented group of people. Can’t wait for you to hear it! Artwork by me hehe.”
Cara has always moved fluidly across genres, weaving elements of pop, R&B, EDM, hip-hop, and more into her work. She began paving the way for Love Or Lack Thereof with “Slow Motion,” a single from Love & Hyperbole that incorporated classic jazz elements into her sleek, modern sound. With Love Or Lack Thereof, she dives all the way into those timeless traditional sounds, rewiring her own musical history in the process. As Cara put it herself on Instagram, “now go listen and get swankyyyyy.”
Contributors to Love Or Lack Thereof include drummer Chino De Villam, bassist Marc Rogers, keyboardist Jon Levine, guitarist Robb Cappelleto, and Alexis Baro on trumpet. Jon Levine produced the album, with mixing by Joe Zook and mastering by Eric Boulanger.
